Jan. 12, 2010

The following is for study only and has NOT been approved by the Taxation and Government Finance Committee, Legislative or Executive Committees or the Board of Directors.

Issue
What are the Mission Statements for the Taxation and Government Finance Committee and its four Issues Areas?

Action
None Required.

Options
Not Applicable.

Status/Summary
In January, 2009, the C.A.R. Board of Directors adopted the recommendations of the Reorganization Task Force that the Committee structure be reorganized into four policy committees and two levels of government committees that will handle the same issues formerly addressed by more than a dozen committees. This resulted in the establishment of the Taxation and Government Finance Committee with original jurisdiction over four issue areas: (1) Commercial Investment, (2) Government Finance, (3) Property Tax, and (4) Transaction Tax.

Discussion
The Board of Directors adopted the recommendation of the Public Policy Reorganization Task Force in 2009 to create a more efficient policy and legislative body in C.A.R. The Task Force was created out of concern that a proliferation of C.A.R. policy committees impaired the efficient functioning of the policy-making process and was fostering an environment of committees that were duplicative and too narrowly focused. This structure seemed to invite too many task forces to be appointed to consider "big picture" issues and made it difficult to avoid multiple presentations of the same issue.

The Reorganization Task Force met extensively during 2008 and early 2009. The Task Force members reviewed and discussed existing policy formation committees and structures, and reviewed background materials from staff. These deliberations resulted in the recommendation that the Committee structure should be reorganized into four policy committees and two levels of government committees that will handle the same issues formerly addressed by more than a dozen committees. All issues covered by each Committee will be addressed by that committee as a whole. Issues Chairs, in the order designated by the Committee Chair, will lead the discussions on issues within their respective areas.

These recommendations were ultimately adopted by the C.A.R. Board of Directors in January, 2009, resulting in creation of the Taxation and Government Finance Committee with the following mission statement:

The Committee is a Policy committee. Its mission is to develop C.A.R.'s government finance and taxation policy agenda. It has original jurisdiction to evaluate legislation and regulation in the following issue areas as they relate to real estate:

Commercial Investment
Government Finance
Property Tax
Transaction Tax

Taxation and Government Finance Committee: Issue Area Mission Statements

1. Commercial Investment: Commercial Investment issues relate to the buying and selling of commercial properties including, but not limited to, 1031 tax deferred property exchanges, passive losses, split roll property taxation and tenancies in common.

2. Government Finance: Government Finance issues relate to the process through which revenue is generated to fund government activities including, but not limited to, bonds and borrowing, business license taxes, the mortgage interest deduction, redevelopment, special districts including Mello-Roos Districts, the state budget and vote thresholds for approval of property assessments and taxation.

3. Property Tax: Property Tax issues include, but are not limited to, benefit assessments, Proposition 13 and property tax base year value portability, and parcel taxes.

4. Transaction Tax: Transaction Tax issues include, but are not limited to, capital gains taxes, recordation fees, sales and service taxes, and transfer taxes – both those imposed by the government as well as those imposed by developers.